Noelle likes Good Food

Are you ready for an update post? Because even though I think the details of my life are not interesting, you probably do. At least those of you that I am related to or are good friends. I know am bad at communicating. Talk to anyone that knows me. If I don't see you on a regular basis then I probably don't talk to you very often. I do come by it honestly as I come from a whole family of non-communicators. Needless to say, I going to try and incorporate more about my life in this blog instead of just about the food. How does that sound? So, what's up with me? On Friday I successfully completed my second semester at Gainesville State College. I am proud to say that I maintained my 4.0 GPA and received A's in all my classes. I can't believe I already have two semesters in the books. The time is passing quicker than I could have ever imagined. As stressful as school sometimes can be, I find a lot of enjoyment in all the new things I am learning. I felt like an offici...

I sincerely hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving. I certainly did. My husband and I and three of our friends went to spend Thanksgiving with my family in Douglasville. We had a wonderful day, and finished it off with some black Friday shopping at the Tanger outlets in Commerce by where we live.  Last week my husband built me new garden beds and I am excited to show them off.  Here is a picture of the old ones before I filled them with compost. As you can see there aren't very big. I believe they were 4' by 2'.  The new ones he built are a whopping 8' by 4'! I have so much more room now, and I am excited by being able to plant more vegetables next year. To fill the beds we just moved the existing dirt from the previous beds into the new ones. Then I moved 16 buckets worth of grass clippings and leaves that were in a big pile on the other side of the yard to fill them some more. As more leaves fall we will crush them up with the lawnmower ...

I recently read that dandelion greens are very nutritious. As luck would have it, we have lots of them in our yard. What else was I to do but harvest some and see what they tasted like?  Dandelion greens are a wonderful tonic. They  support digestion, reduce swelling and inflammation, and treat viruses. This sunflower relative boasts potent medicinal properties with laxative and diuretic properties.  Sounds too good to be true from a weed in your front yard, right?  Like I said we have lots in our yard and I happily harvested a big bunch of them, and planned to use them in chicken stock.  I simply cleaned off the greens and placed them in a crockpot with chicken bones from 4 bone in chicken breasts, 2 carrots, 3 ribs of celery, and spices. Then I filled the crockpot to the top with filtered water.  It cooked for a day and produced a beautiful and flavorful chicken broth. I ended up drinking most of it by itself, and it was ext...

I know I know, long time no see. Life has been kicking me in the butt lately with everything going on. Classes, working with the band, work, and a husband have been keeping me busy. Today I don't have to go anywhere though, and I am really happy about it. Chris and I can be at home and catch up on some work and homework respectively. However, as I contemplated revising my essay for English class I thought about how long it had been since I updated, and decided blogging sounded like way more fun. I was looking back at some pictures of the last few months and realized I never blogged about making a Dog Bone UGA cake. I made it for a lady to take to a tailgating party after one of their football games. It was a blast to make, and I think it turned out really cute.  It was a chocolate cake with buttercream icing. I baked a 9x11 cake, and 12 cupcakes. I cut down the 9x11 cake to size, and cut the corner of four cupcakes out to fit into the four corners of the cake. I cut off the tops...

 This was a particularly delicious lunch I made the other day. I came home from school very hungry and remembered I had some leftover cooked spaghetti squash in the fridge.  Here are the players. 3 cloves of garlic, about 10 medium sized basil leaves,  2 cups of arugula, 2 cups spaghetti squash, salt, pepper, lots of red pepper flakes, and a sprinkling of parmesan. I put a little olive oil in a pan and sauteed the garlic. I added all the other ingredients and cooked until everything was heated through. I dumped it all in a bowl and sprinkled parmesan on top. It was delicious! In other news, I met with my academic advisor today at school. We came up with plan that will have me graduating in Spring 2013. I wrote out what I need to take for each semester to be able to finish. I am very excited to have a goal to work towards. It will be a little rough with having to complete 6 more science courses in three semesters. But I believe I am up to the challenge. I also found o...

I have so many things to post about! I have been cooking up a storm this last week and took pictures of it all. Now I just need to find the time to write about everything. Unfortunately, the time for writing on this blog gets pushed aside with all my other commitments. I really appreciate those of you who continue to read even when my posts are sporadic. Thank you! Today I want to tell you about my wonderful breakfast. Masa Harina and Besan Pancake with a Fried Egg and Pepper Jack Cheese on top.  Let me tell you, this was completely delicious. I make pancakes a lot. But they aren't your normal every day pancake. Mine have brown rice flour, chickpea flour (Besan), and lately I have been putting in a couple Tablespoons of masa harina (corn flour) for a little twist. I usually put a 1/3 to 1/2 cup flour with baking soda, salt, packet of stevia, and water and it makes two pancakes. Then I make it like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and eat it as I run out the door to either cle...

Happy Labor Day everyone! I have had a great weekend so far and I am excited to spend some time with hubby today and get caught up on some homework. Lazy days at home at the best! I got some laver seaweed the other week, which is an edible seaweed that has high levels of iodine and iron. It is paper thin, and has a little crunch when you bite into it, but then easily dissolves in your mouth. It has a wonderful savory, sea-salty taste that makes it a great condiment. If you have tried sushi, which is wrapped in a similar type of seaweed called nori, I think you know what I am talking about. I have been finding different ways to incorporate it into some asian inspired meals.  For lunch as school last week, I brought some brown rice mixed with rice vinegar, thinly sliced cucumber and carrot, and torn laver on top.  For dinner two nights ago, I made a Quinoa Stir-Fry with carrots, peas, chicken, fresh garlic and ginger, and sesame oil. I scooped it up with my chopsticks and s...

Well, it's that time again. I started classes again last week. I am taking Chemistry, Precalculus, English, Communication, and PE. I am really enjoying all my classes, and all my teachers. It just means lots of homework and early mornings. It is definitely an adjustment, and I need to be so careful about how I manage my time to get everything done.  A perk about being back at school again is a Costco and Super H Mart that are only twenty minutes from the school. I went the other day with my sister Jenna and we had a blast! I had not been in a long time and needed to stock up on a few essentials.  I got a big bag of besan (chickpea) flour, rice paper wrappers, korean chili powder, seaweed, rice noodles, wasabi peas and a few other items. It is very exciting to have a stocked pantry!! Every-time I go to Super H I try to pick up something I have never tried before. This time I picked up some hijiki. It is a dried seaweed that can be reconstituted in water and takes on the fla...

I wanted chocolate for breakfast. So I made chocolate pancakes.  Mission accomplished. Dark Chocolate Pancakes (Free of Gluten, Dairy, Refined Sugar, and Eggs) Makes enough for two pancakes 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp Brown Rice Flour 2 Tbsp Cocoa Powder (I used Hershey's Dark Cocoa) 1/2 tsp Cinnamon 1 tsp Baking Powder pinch of salt 1 Tbsp Coconut Oil 1 Tbsp Honey 1/4-1/3 cup water (add a little at a time until you get the right consistency) Mix dry ingredients together. Add wet ingredients. Heat up a nonstick pan, add a little bit of butter, pour half the batter in. Flip and wait until cooked through. Repeat with the rest of the batter. Enjoy with your topping of choice.  I spread a little bit of peanut butter and drizzled some honey on top. But I also think that some blueberries or strawberries would be amazing. I like very dark chocolate so I barely sweetened the pancake. If you like something a little sweeter you can add some stevia or a little more honey. I thought these were...

Before I got married I definitely did not like okra. My experience was with okra that had been fried and had sat too long, and tasted like greasy mush. Not very appetizing. But my husband, he loves okra. Rumor has it when he was a kid he requested a fried okra cake for his birthday. He got it too. I wish I could see the picture of his big bowl of okra with candles pushed in for him to blow out. I am sure it was a magical experience. Since we got married I have had good fried okra when it is fresh out of the pan and super crispy. So, I like it now. But, for the two of us at home I hate frying stuff. The main reason is not even because it isn't healthy, but because it makes a big mess. I have to clean so much anyway, why would I do that to myself?  My new mission was to find ways of preparing okra that didn't require frying. I found that roasting it in the oven produced very tasty, slightly crispy, nuggets of okra gold and I have been doing that since last summer. But roasting ...

I told you the other day that I had started drinking kefir. Now, there are two different kinds of kefir. Milk kefir, which you may have seen at your local grocery store and is similar to yoghurt but a more pour-able consistency, and water kefir. I have been making the water version of kefir. It is made from little grains of yeast and friendly bacteria that feed off of sugar water creating natural carbonation and lactic acid in the process. It is a refreshing, sweet and sour, effervescent drink that is high in beneficial bacteria, and therefore, good for you. This is my most recent batch. It is a light brown color from the molasses. I put a little bit of lemon juice and fresh mint after I strained it out, and it was very refreshing.  There are recipes and information all over the internet about different ways to do it. It is pretty forgiving, and everyone has their own unique technique. However, to start home brewing water kefir you must first obtain water kefir 'grains'. Un...

So, I told you that I would post a picture of my first tomato two days ago. But... I ate it before I got a picture. It was a very good :). Here are my okra plants. We have been harvesting an average of 3-4 pods a day. Once we collect enough for a meal, we enjoy it roasted with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. I planted 2 bell pepper, and 4 jalapeno pepper plants. They have not grown much, and most of the flower blossoms withered. I am averaging about one small pepper per plant so far. They will probably be the spiciest jalapenos ever. I kept them in pots too long, and I also over watered them when they were in the pots. I definitely learned a lot about how to do peppers better next year.  Here is my itty bitty little bell pepper. It is about the size of a quarter. I kept waiting for it to grow bigger, but the last week it has turned red. So, I guess it is ready to pick. What should I make with a quarter sized bell pepper? My cherry tomatoes are doing very well. I have ...

For those of you reading this, thanks for not giving up on me. I am sorry for the lack of posts. I haven't been in the kitchen much this summer. We don't have central AC, so we only turn on our window unit in the bedroom at night for when we sleep, and it is just too dang hot during the day to feel like cooking anything. But I miss writing, and I have so many things to tell you. I will post tomorrow about my garden. I harvested my first brandywine tomato today and it is a beauty!  I have been on a fermenting kick lately. My journey started by reading about all the benefits of fermented food. The process of lacto-fermentation is where veggies and a simple brine of salt, water, and naturally occurring vegetable juices are left to sit out at room temperature. As the food ferments. lactic acid is created which preserves the food in place of using large amounts of vinegar. The finished product will keep for months in the fridge (if it is not eaten up right away), and will develop f...

Great things are happening in the garden. All my plants have started flowering and I am giddy with excitement.  These are my cherry tomato plants that are full of flower blossoms. A few okra on each plant are starting to grow. By the way, I didn't know this was how okra grew. How cool! The brandywine tomato plants are shooting up and we finally got cages around this morning to keep them supported.  For the last couple of weeks this "weed" has been growing in the bed I am going to use for the pepper plants. I have been lazy and have just been letting it grow until I need to transplant the peppers. One of our friends came over for breakfast this morning, and I was showing her the garden. I pointed to the chard, the tomatoes, the okra, and showed her the huge weed that I needed to deal with. In shock she said, "that's not a weed, that is a squash plant". I guess one of the squash seeds from the compost in the garden bed germinated and we now have a mys...